I know it is a domestic fowl but it is the origin of the actual word "CHICKEN" that I need to settle a dispute between two friends
2006-10-04 02:51:17 · 9 answers · asked by FOSS 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
looks like it comes from the germanic word "kiukanam from the word "keuk" which is the root of "****".
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chicken
O.E. cycen "young fowl," which in M.E. came to mean "young chicken," then any chicken, from W.Gmc. *kiukinam, from base *keuk- (possibly root of ****, of echoic origin) + dim. suffix. Sense of "cowardly" is at least as old as 14c.; the v. meaning "to back down or fail through cowardice" is from 1943, U.S. slang; as a game of danger to test courage, it is first recorded 1953. Chicken hawk "public person who advocates war but who declined significant opportunity to serve in uniform during wartime" is attested from at least 1988, Amer.Eng. Chicken pox (c.1730) may be a disparaging name because of their mildness compared to smallpox. Chicken feed "paltry sum of money" is from 1904. Chickweed (c.1440) was in O.E. cicene mete "chicken food."
2006-10-04 02:53:35 · answer #1 · answered by ♪ ♫ ☮ NYbron ☮ ♪ ♫ 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Really? Well, as an idiomatic word, "chicken" can also mean "coward," as in being scared of something.
So, an exchange might go like this:
A: You won't go on that mega roller coaster?
B: No way!
A: You're so chicken!
This means that speaker A is saying that speaker B is scared to get on the ride.
Hope this helps.
Thanks!
mz
2006-10-04 02:55:12 · answer #2 · answered by mz 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Middle English chiken, from Old English cicen young chicken; akin to Old English cocc ****
2006-10-04 03:00:46 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
O.E. cycen "young fowl," which in M.E. came to mean "young chicken," then any chicken, from W.Gmc. *kiukinam, from base *keuk- (possibly root of ****, of echoic origin) + dim. suffix.
2006-10-04 02:55:16 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Egg
2006-10-04 02:54:29 · answer #5 · answered by Bella Donna 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
the colonel himself made up the word when he first saw the amusing bird
2006-10-04 02:58:18 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Adam named all the animals in the garden of eden
2006-10-04 02:53:40 · answer #7 · answered by newheartin03 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Don't know...but that is a good question.
What are the origins of other words?
2006-10-04 02:53:02 · answer #8 · answered by jessigirl00781 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Y'see, first there was this egg.....
2006-10-04 03:54:18 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋